Tier 1 Investor Visas | Concerns Over Checks on Applications

Tier 1 Investor Visas was introduced in 2008 and in that year 43 foreign nationals succeeded in their applications. In 2012 the number of applications soared and 470 visas were granted. The increase was due to rising demand from people from Russia and China.

According to a report in the FT this week wealth management companies are concerned over Home Office checks into the foreign millionaires’ finances as they feel there is a disconnect between what the companies have to do to establish the source of funds and what are perceived as the less in depth checks carried out by the Home Office. The response from the Home Office is that they are carrying out extensive verification and criminality checks and preventing fraud but these checks are not a substitute for those that financial institutions are legally required to carry out on investors’ funds .